With balloting in the 2024 presidential election slated to begin in less than 24 hours, most Alabamians are already firm in their choice of which ticket to support. But if you remain among the handful of undecided voters, I feel it is important to offer a few facts to explain why a vote for Donald Trump and JD Vance is your best option.
In the four short years since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris entered the White House, prices on goods have risen roughly 20%, which has forced families and individuals to spend almost $1,000 more each month on basic needs and essentials. The skyrocketing inflation that Kamalanomics created means your checks are getting smaller as your bills are getting bigger, which especially harms seniors who are already struggling to survive on fixed incomes.
Alabamians are feeling sticker shock at the gas pump, as well, as the current administration’s “Green New Deal” policies have proven to be a raw deal for everyday citizens. Under Donald Trump, our nation was energy independent, and gas prices remained below $3 a gallon throughout his presidency, while they have bloated to above $3 a gallon during the majority of the Biden/Harris years.
Inflation is approximately 200% higher under Biden than under Trump, and with those exploding costs, the average credit card debt has also increased by 40% as families search for ways to keep pace with obligations. Conversely, under President Trump, Americans were earning and saving more as income grew more than $7,600 each year, and personal savings increased by more than 260%.
During the Trump administration, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached an all-time historic low of 2.65%, but under Biden/Harris, it has shot up by 7%, costing American families thousands of dollars more in interest to own even a modestly priced home.
Simply put, when Donald Trump ran our nation’s economic policy, life was more affordable, and the American dream was attainable by all who were willing to work for it.
A return to Donald Trump will also signal a return to law and order and safer streets, communities, and neighborhoods.
Soft on crime policies and a “defund the police” attitude shared by many within the current administration have resulted in more robberies, assaults, and other violent offenses.
Retailers, ranging from large box stores to small mom-and-pop operations, are falling victim to roving bands of organized shoplifters who can make hard-earned profits disappear in a matter of moments, but this administration offers only a blind eye and a deaf ear to the problem.
Their “solution” is to underreport crime statistics in an attempt to use numbers to camouflage a crime plague that each of us can plainly see.
Perhaps the most obvious, dramatic, and dangerous difference between the administrations is Trump’s tireless work to seal our southern border versus the open border policies that Harris embraces.
In Trump’s four years, more than 450 miles of strong new border wall was constructed, border patrol agents received the support and resources they needed to fulfill their duties, and illegal immigrants who break our laws with their simple presence understood that they were not welcome here.
“Border Czar” Kamala Harris, on the other hand, sold the surplus border wall components, threw open the flood gates to illegals, and offered a green light to drug traffickers, sex traffickers, and others who seek to exploit the innocent. Every murder committed by an illegal immigrant, every child or woman harmed by an illegal immigrant, and every overdose of fentanyl that was muled here by an illegal immigrant lies firmly at her feet.
Under Biden and Harris, every state in our nation has essentially become a border state.
Among President Trump’s greatest accomplishments from his first term are the 200-plus federal judges he appointed, which includes three U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
The federal court system plays a huge role in answering important societal questions that will impact us for decades, and the Supreme Court could soon be making decisions about guys playing in girls’ sports; guys using girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers; and allowing transgender surgeries that permanently maim minors and render them infertile.
I know that Trump will continue appointing conservative judges who strictly interpret the law and Constitution, while Harris will appoint judges who improperly make new law from the bench and purposely distort the words and meaning of the Constitution to fit their own political opinions.
During his summation at the 1980 debate against Jimmy Carter, President Ronald Reagan famously looked into the camera and asked the American people a simple yet revealing question — “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” If you are among the undecided or remain soft on your choice in tomorrow’s election, I pose President Reagan’s same question to you. If you are honest with yourself in answering it, I have every confidence that you will vote to return Donald Trump to the White House so we may all begin the business of making America great once again.
Will Ainsworth is the Lieutenant Governor of Alabama.
